European Chamber Survey on the Economic Impact of Internet Access Restrictions on Foreign Business in China Go back »

2015-02-12 | All chapters

1. Does the inability to access certain web pages in China have a negative effect on your business?

2. Has the recent increase in measures to tighten Internet control/censorship in China had an even bigger negative impact on your business?

3. What economic impact has instability, slowness and/or lack of access to websites had on your company? Please consider the following, amongst others:

A.        Internally: in the office, in R&D and manufacturing (waiting time, repeated trials, complete inability to communicate, run searches/do research etc.)

B.        Externally: difficulties of data and document exchanges with head offices, partners, customers, suppliers, etc.)

C.        Deferred plans for investment in R&D: unwillingness to set up R&D operations in China because of lower productivity

D.       Difficulty in attracting/retaining talent related to Internet situation in China

E.        Other

Some noteworthy comments that respondents to the survey gave were:

-            “The more internet restrictions come into place, the more the already taken decisions for further built-up of R&D in China will be challenged by headquarters…”

-            “If China is serious about attracting foreign enterprises and entrepreneurs…it will need to address this situation as a matter of urgency.”

-            “Basic tasks such as [undertaking] market research online, flight/hotel bookings on international sites [and] slow email servers, all add up to wasted time in front of a computer and cause problems. I feel [that this is] getting worse and worse...”

Please find the links to English and Chinese versions of the Chamber's press release herein below:

Internet Restrictions Increasingly Harmful to Business, say European Companies in China

在华欧洲企业：互联网管控对商业构成的危害与日俱增

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